Homesteading in Norton County

Leota

Located about 6 miles southwest of Norton, this town site was settled in 1873. The town was platted and filed on June 5, 1879 by I. N. Cope. It was originally known as Weston, but when the townspeople petitioned for a post office, the officials refused to name it after the town because Weston was already taken by another town in Kansas. the name was then changed to Leota after the daughter of Mr. M. A. Morrison, one of the town's founders. Leota was in a hotly contested venture between 1875-18778 to become the county seat, but eventually lost that to Norton after people tired of the long struggle. Even though Mr. Cope platted the town site after Norton became the county seat, some of the buildings were moved to Oronoque. Eventually, the settlement was vacated on July 3, 1882.

The ethnicity of its settlers is not known.

Sources

Bowers, D. N. Seventy Years in Norton County, Kansas, 1872-1942. The Norton County Champion,
Norton, Kansas, 1942.
Nicholson, John H. A History of Norton County, Kansas. Masters Thesis,
Colorado State College of Education, 1941.